Five of us from our local tasting group got together at Nini's bistro in New Haven for dinner. Had an excess of wine (with a number of unopened bottles as well), though a very fun evening with good friends and some very interesting wines at a nice setting.
NV Jacques Selosse Champagne Brut Initiale Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs
Faintly oxidative aromatics of fresh bread, butterscotch, baked apple and toasted nuts but in the mouth it's incredibly fresh, streamlined and elegant with bright effervescence, rich white fruited and baked apple flavours over minerals and yeasty elements with really good acidity keeping it very precise. Lovely.
2009 Domaine de L'Idylle Vin de Savoie Cruet
Jason mentioned this was bought from Garagiste; I can imagine the aromatics alone would have led to a fairly hype-filled email. Starts out with a lovely Chablis-like scent that has barely a hint of fruit, just an intense oyster shell minerality and seawater aromas; in the mouth it's very light on its feet though slightly austere with fresh pear and cucumber flavours over a bed of minerals, finishing a little short and tart though. Very enjoyable, though more fun to smell than drink.
2002 Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers
Not quite premoxed, but this seems to be on the way - there's some ripe white fruit accented by smoky and earthy elements, but it's marred by an underlying oxidative element that becomes stronger with a little air in the glass, lacking precision or clarity.
1995 Noël Verset Cornas
Starts out with a faintly musty scent that had me worried about cork taint, but that cleared with some air. Really outstanding stuff, combining earth, pork, olive, herbal and saline flavours seamlessly on a frame that's very elegant and silken-textured with the tannins almost completely resolved.
2007 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph
A little tight and unyielding at first, but this opens out with a little patience to show incredibly vibrant, fresh flavours of freshly cracked black pepper over dark fruits with a meaty element that emerges and becomes more prevalent with time. There's a sense of real purity and elegance to the flavours here; it's incredibly young now but hard to keep away from.
2004 Agricola Punica Barrua Isola dei Nuraghi IGT
Carignan from Sardinia; served blind. This comes across as a fairly generic international-styled wine with oaky accents around ripe dark fruits, fairly low in acid with a soft, heavy mouthfeel. Boring.
1999 Roagna Barolo La Rocca e La Pira
Lovely aromatics; full of black cherry and other dark fruited flavours over tar, earth and faint floral elements. Still very young and primary in the mouth with youthful fruit, few hints of development and a firm tannic and acid spine suggesting there's still a lot of time ahead here.
1995 Château Latour à Pomerol
Striking aromatics; very fresh, high-toned and green - reminiscent of a Loire Cab Franc with intense herbal flavours and a touch of green pepper over cassis and dark fruits. Medium weight in the mouth, though a little austere with the fruit reticent and the greenness and acidity dominating, finishing long but tart.
2005 Carmes de Rieussec
Not as heavy and sweet as I find a lot of young Sauternes to be; bright floral and honeyed aromas lead into a palate full of ripe tropical fruits and apricots drenched in honey and spices, but it's well balanced with decent acids keeping the sweetness from being overwhelming and giving the flavours a nice sense of freshness.
1997 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux
Delicious stuff; dominated by caramel, spicy and honeyed botrytised flavours over quince, mandarin orange and tropical fruits, viscous and full bodied - though remarkably well balanced for a wine of this richness and sweetness with really good acidity and serious length.
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